


There for you

by ChangelingChild



Series: Constant companion [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Other, Protective Tony Stark, Soulmate Telepathy, reader is anxious, reader takes unspecified medication for unspecified purpose
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-13 22:14:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29533215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChangelingChild/pseuds/ChangelingChild
Summary: Reader has their first trip abroad, what happens when they don't lock their luggage up properly?
Relationships: Tony Stark/Reader
Series: Constant companion [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2151459
Comments: 5
Kudos: 24





	There for you

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back, for anyone new this series has another in it that is previous to this chronologically but I don't believe it's necessary to understand this one. The thought sharing soulmates have in this universe is very difficult to turn off so they are in each other's heads basically all the time, it's a neat challenge for writing because it's essentially a dual perspective. Since reader's perspective is also with Tony's thoughts, and Tony's perspective is with reader's thoughts. Might be awkward because I do sort of switch perspective but the line is also blurry.
> 
> Also obligatory disclaimer, I've not seen any Iron man or MCU movie, all my characterization is from other fan content, please let me know if anything is super wrong. But know that things might be OoC coming in.
> 
> With all that out of the way, I hope you like it. :D

You were going to Rome, you hadn’t stopped thinking about it for weeks and Tony was very aware of your plans. Honestly, the joy you kept exuding over the connection was giving Tony a bit of a boost in his mood too. He was home, his soulmate was happy, and going on a trip and he was safe, he was safe, he was safe.

You had figured out that your soulmate was **the** Tony Stark when he was taken in Afghanistan, it wasn’t hard to put together, you knew he was captured and you knew he was American. You even knew when he had arrived in Afghanistan, though apparently, he managed to not think about going there enough that you didn’t know until that point.

The two of you were also getting much more comfortable sharing a headspace, though Tony was a bit miffed you wouldn’t tell him more about yourself, he had said that he had enough information to look you up, which you didn’t doubt. You weren’t ready though, when you finished your degree then you would think about uniting with your soulmate, but right now? It was too much, especially now that you knew the celebrity you had been paired with.

On your flight to Rome you marvelled at the height at the view at the excitement of it all, you’d never flown before, and it was amazing. You got no small amount of teasing from your inexperience along with concern from Tony about your age, “ _not everyone has the money to fly across the country on a whim McDuck. I’m probably older than half the women you’ve slept with._ ”

Even though he didn’t have your name, you had a rapport, you were working on a relationship even if it was still relatively anonymous. You were happy with that. One time while Tony was asleep in Afghanistan you had reported all the information you had about his capture to the Soulmate tip box with the FBI, but either you had successfully kept it out of your head whenever Tony was listening, or he hadn’t thought to call you on it.

When you arrived in Rome you checked into your hostel left your things in the luggage room and then went to the University, you had arranged the trip as part of your degree to explore some collections available from ancient Rome. By the end of the day you were exhausted and ready to collapse, so you went to the hostel and your luggage was nowhere to be found.

* * *

Tony was being dragged along for meetings when pure panic came across his soulmate connection. Pepper saw him pause, “Tony? Are you alright?”

Shaking off his shock he smiled at pepper, but it was forced, “parasite problems” he said pointing to his head, “um…” Tony looked down the hall, “could I, how important?”

Pepper shook her head, “You owe me, deal with your soulmate,” and Tony ran off to hide in an empty room.

“ _Possom? What’s wrong? What can I do?”_

_“No, fuck off, I just- fuck off it’s fine, I don’t need rescuing.”_

_“You’re panicking, so much so that it made my assistant think_ **_I_ ** _was panicking. I know I can help.”_

_“I’m sure you could but I can handle it, I still have my wallet on me it’ll be fine.”_

_“What happened”_

_“My fucking luggage got stolen, but it’s fine, I swear, I can do this.”_

Tony felt that there was something missing but when you weren’t making an effort to communicate with him your thoughts weren’t very well organized for his perusal. Tony was certain though, either you had a major anxiety disorder and were catastrophizing or you lost more than just some clothes. Tony tried to get through your spiralling thoughts, “ _sugar, flour, I need you to take deep breaths okay? Deep breaths and then tell me what was in your luggage that was so important.”_ Tony took you through one of the breathing exercises Pepper had left on his workbench, 3 in hold for 5 7 out.

 _“I can go to a pharmacy, I’ll find a pharmacy it’ll be okay.”_ You took out your phone and searched for any pharmacy that was still open, luckily there were a few 24-hour ones that you could go to. You were going to be okay, you didn’t need Tony fucking Stark to save you, you were fine.

“ _If you need anything I promise I’ll be there, anything at all, I promise. Why are you staying in a hostel, I can get you a hotel there, I have a house not far from there you know._ ” Tony was feeling pretty useless his soulmate had a plan, it was okay, he could technically track her, JARVIS knew who she was but had kept that information from him, he only knows for emergencies. But this is an emergency, isn’t it?

“ _Stop that, I don’t need to know about your creepy stalker artificial child knowing who I am, this isn’t an emergency, I’m literally waiting at the pharmacy I’ll pick up a few things and go find a clothing store in the morning. Go back to work._ ” Tony panicking wasn’t helping your panic at all. It was fine, everything was fine, it’s your luggage you still had your wallet and your phone and your credit card and passport, it was fine, you also had several hundred Euro that was meant to be all your spending money for the trip, but whatever you’ll get touristy pyjamas, it was fine.

* * *

It was not fine, it was not fine at all, You were panicking you could feel Tony’s thoughts but you weren’t processing them, They didn’t have your medication, they don’t have it in Italy, it’s not approved for the EU market, did you break the rules bringing it here? Oh god were you a criminal now? The pharmacist was trying so hard to be helpful she kept asking about alternatives but you didn’t know, she didn’t know the words for you to explain your condition, you didn’t know any other medication options except a few you took that didn’t work when you were younger. You tried to pull yourself together, Tony had stopped thinking at you, his head was still busy but at the least, it was no longer contributing to your panic.

You managed to make yourself seem calm enough to leave the pharmacy, you found a section to take the steps down to the river embankment, it was secluded, and you stared into the water, you still felt Tony’s thoughts in the back of your mind, but nothing was getting through, your panic was all-consuming, a few times a pointed thought came through from Tony asking you to focus on something you could see hear smell, taste or feel. So you would drag a stick you found through the water and feel the resistance.

You don’t know how long you sat there, but you were sore and stiff when a feeling of surprise and worry and affection and love overwhelmed you from your connection.

“Possom?”

It was his voice, Tony, your soulmate’s voice, in the flesh out loud. You couldn’t make a sound you were starting to unravel again what was he doing here how did he get here, what was happening.

You don’t remember him coming to you but only felt his hands holding yours, “Come on tell me 5 things you can see okay?” He said it many times before you managed to get your mouth to make words. But you didn’t answer his question,

“You’re here?”

“Yes, I’m here, I wasn’t gonna leave you alone for this it’s okay, I will forget everything I learned about you, we’ll go at your pace after, but your panic, I had to help, I had to and I’m a genius billionaire playboy philanthropist, it’s not like I don’t have the ability.”

Through your tears you choked a laugh, “I don’t want to go home, I just, wish things were okay”

Tony Hugged you awkwardly, you didn’t know if you made it weird or what, but you accepted it. He cleared his throat a bit, “So I might’ve broken a few laws,”

Curiosity peaked in your mind. He just handed you your medication, you were at a loss for words. It was creepy right? That he found you on a riverbank in Rome and had your medication that was creepy right?

You heard Tony’s laugh it was warm but you felt the pang of sadness underneath it. “Sweetheart, don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, and, I’ve been told I have problems with boundaries…”

There was an implication of more, he passed you one other thing, it was a key card for the Marriot “it’s right by the hostel you were booked into, Pep talked me down, it’s a normal room, it’ll be fine, I’m covering it, and I don’t want to hear anything, you’re not safe pretty young lady travelling alone in a hostel, I won’t have it.”

You took the keys and medication pecked his cheek and ran. You thought at him “ _I’m sorry, I’m not ready, thank you so much, I’m sorry thank you._ ”

“ _I’m going home, I’ll wait, you know where to find me when it’s time._ ”

**Author's Note:**

> Alrighty, thank you for reading, I put more effort into getting Rome right than I really should've but living in a small country occasionally mentioned in fics by people who clearly haven't done any research I know it can take someone out of the story. I don't blame anyone for it, it just can be a bit of frustration and I want to avoid that in my fics, so if something feels wrong about the setting let me know, and on that note, I consulted my friend for the Rome stuff, but I'm also not American? And I don't ever consult about America, but like also for America if I get anything for that hilariously wrong let me know.
> 
> If you have ideas for stuff that could go in this series I'd love to hear it, I can't guarantee I'd write it, but it would be nice to have more ideas.
> 
> Also, I watched a compilation of Tony Stark happy moments to try and hear his laugh, and like I don't recognize so many characters, and it would just be solved if I would just watch the movies that I've been in the fandom for for months, but like, I can't keep myself on task to watch a whole movie. ~~even though I can read fanfic for hours on end, I don't understand it but neurodivergence strikes again~~
> 
> EDIT: I was going to put this when I first posted this but I completely forgot. >.< https://discord.gg/RMhNHrRX7V this is my discord server, I'm lonely, This link should be limited to 25 uses because I don't want to get overwhelmed by accident. But if you want to be my friend, then yeah. It is a dictatorship though so keep that in mind before joining.


End file.
